The PERSUIT Podcast

Veta Richardson , President and CEO of the Association of Corporate Counsel , thinks everyone deserves a hand up if they can find the humility to ask for it. That’s why she’s a champion for greater inclusion of women and people of multicultural backgrounds in the global marketplace. Veta believes in the power of helping others, putting those values to paper in her best-selling book, Take Six: Esse...

Maui Gevero , Senior Manager of Legal Advisory at PERSUIT, has always had a passion for numbers, so the financial industry seemed like the perfect fit for his talents. But after spending a few years with Goldman Sachs, he knew that the banking life wasn’t for him. He loved digging into data and analytics, but the traditional institution had a traditional way of thinking. He wanted to use the infor...

After reading The Wise Men in the 1980s, Cameron Findlay knew that he wanted to follow in the footsteps of America’s political trailblazers. He achieved his dream, wearing multiple hats in the judicial and executive branches of the U.S. government before pivoting to the private sector. Today, Cam is serving as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary at his third Fortune 500 company,...

We’ve enjoyed so many sharp conversations with legal experts and industry game-changers on the journey to our hundredth episode of Innovative Legal Leadership . So who better to celebrate this milestone with than Michelle Landy , General Counsel and Chief Operations Officer of PERSUIT. With over 25 years of experience in private law firms and in-house practice, Michelle’s set foot on quite a few b...

You could say Nicole Kelsey , Chief Legal Officer and Secretary at Amyris , is addicted to learning. Since Nicole was young, her Algerian mother branded a love for languages and different cultures on her daughter’s heart. Now, she’s bringing her fiery passion for continuing education to the legal profession.     Nicole shares her provocative story of grit and growth in pursuing a GC role and empow...

As a competitive chess player in his college days, Alan Tse gained an appreciation for having to make timely tactical decisions. Like competitors in the game of kings, lawyers must often make important judgment calls without all the facts at their disposal, even if that means tough lessons may follow. Now the Global Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Jones Lang Lasalle , Alan leaned on...

It’s not uncommon for up-and-coming professionals to follow their parents into law. That was certainly the case for Mike Haven , Associate GC and Head of Legal Ops at Intel . After watching his father give a deposition before the United States Supreme Court, young Mike knew he wanted to walk in his father’s footsteps.   Mike’s journey led him to the crossroad of business and law — legal operations...

Nonprofit in-house legal teams are the Davids in a world full of Goliath corporate legal departments and private law firms. But their passion for leaving the world a better place than they found it continually drives out-of-the-box thinking and innovation. That’s exactly what Phyllis Harris , General Counsel and Chief Compliance, Ethics, and Government Relations Officer at the American Red Cross ,...

The globalization of many in-house legal teams has become one of the greatest individual challenges for up-and-coming legal professionals. Yet, Michael Hoffman , Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Counsel at NXP Semiconductors , realized early in his international career that law is a universal language. Michael shares his insights on recognizing cultural differences and how in-house leade...

Like so many other young legal professionals, Demetrio Zema was beaten down by the competitive pressures and disregard for client outcomes in fixed fee arrangements. So in 2015, the Melbourne native left traditional legal teams behind and founded Law Squared , a firm built around an alternative business model that rewards outcomes over billed hours. As the Director of this forward-thinking global...

Ann Kappler found a passion for in-house people management while on her journey to becoming the EVP and General Counsel at Prudential Financial . She takes pride in helping develop successful teams because, in her words, it’s seeing individuals come together and contribute that satisfies her the most in her work. Ann gives us an exclusive look at how she pivoted her policy-making experience from W...

In-house legal teams are constantly tested by contemporary challenges, so it takes a special team to consistently drive in-house legal innovation alongside normal operations. Yet, that’s exactly what Rishi Varma , General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Hewlett Packard Enterprise , and his team are doing. As the Financial Times’ North America Innovative Lawyers Awards winners for Most Innovativ...

As an eager young attorney at a large corporate firm, Laura Spalding quickly became disillusioned by unattainable billable hour quotas. But her experience in a space where nightmarish workloads drove promotions and bonuses inevitably sparked her burning passion for helping innovate the legal space. Now the Director of the Legal Advisory Team at PERSUIT , Laura talks about how she and other young l...

In early 2021, I. Stephanie Boyce made history as the first woman of color to become President of The Law Society of England and Wales (LSEW) in its 200-plus year history. Although her tenure as acting President is over, her work to advance the DEI discussion by putting words into action is just beginning. The President of the Leicester University Law Society and Board of Trustees member for JUSTI...

From Oslo to New York to Japan, Bjarne Tellmann has lived a life worthy of a Viking saga. Early in his legal journey, the General Counsel of Haleon embraced a philosophy of serendipity, seeing every opportunity as a new adventure. And that’s because nobody ever wrote about the man or woman who played it safe. The author of Building an Outstanding Legal Team: Battle-Tested Strategies from a General...

Lisa Mather had no intentions of becoming a lawyer when she started college. But her first academic love of science drew her to environmental law and, ultimately, a successful career in legal. Lisa traversed the world with her two children while working at several international firms before taking her current position as Global General Counsel at Mars Wrigley in 2022. She shares her insights on be...

As a younger legal counsel, the transition from law firm to in-house can certainly be a bumpy one. As the realization of daily expectations sets in, the workload volume can seem overwhelming. When Sneha Desai , Chief Legal Counsel of Global Litigation & Employment at Stryker , senses that anxiety in her juniors, she imparts the advice passed down to her: do what makes sense. Sneha talks with u...

The pandemic forced the entire world to pivot on a moment’s notice, but perhaps no other industry felt the brunt of its impact like procurement. Procurement and legal have always had a rocky partnership. But the pandemic reset expectations by driving innovation, both in technology and relationships. Dr. Elouise Epstein , Partner at Kearney and author of Trade wars, pandemics, and chaos , shares ho...

Cynthia Lareine , Director of Community Development at PERSUIT , fanned a fire in her resolve from a young age. The daughter of proud Nigerian parents, Cynthia endured discrimination from students and teachers alike while attending boarding school. Later, she handled her share of well-meaning depreciation and racial assumptions as a junior associate. Today, she’s applying the lessons she’s learned...

For Sabrina Nguyen , General Counsel and CCO at Danone UK & Ireland , the odds were stacked against her on day one. Born in post-war Vietnam, she and her mother spent three years in refugee camps before finding a new life in America. But after growing up among the farmlands of Missouri, she felt the pull back to her international roots. Sabrina shares the experiences of her career journey acro...

When Doug Barnard , Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary at CF Industries , joined the company in 2004, he was already fighting an uphill battle. On the verge of bankruptcy, the owners of CF were determined to sell the company. But Doug saw an opportunity - why not take the company public? In 2005, Doug’s vision became a reality as CF Industries presented its IPO, turning CF’s for...

Big legal departments have plenty of brainpower, but any team without direction is doomed to underachieve. That’s why the powers that be at UBS asked Thomas Barothy to bring his financial management expertise to his current role with them as Chief Operating Officer of Legal. By painting a clear vision and implementing a proper strategy for his legal department, Thomas helped his supportive team re...

In days past, in-house legal was traditionally seen as a “last resort” for up-and-coming lawyers. While that mindset is fading, corporate in-house legal teams are constantly exposed to unique challenges, especially when it's a small team stretched to its limits. Jackie Rice , General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at MillerKnoll , tells us about her transition from a large team at General Motors...

Early on in his legal career at Novartis, Maurus Schreyvogel encountered a frustrating obstacle. The legal team had no tools, no technology, no access to knowledge, and consequently, they found themselves reinventing the wheel over and over. It was so frustrating, in fact, that he was prepared to leave the company. Instead, he was presented with a mission that convinced him to stay: Establish tran...

As a child of young parents, Rene Du Preez always felt she had to jump right in and give her all with everything she did. Rene started her career as the only female associate at her first South African law firm in the early 90s. Since then, the GC at Standard Bank Group has become an advocate and mentor for other African women breaking into the field. Rene shares with us how her experiences in inv...